No One
by Trey St. Clare
Summary: The further she reads the more hope she invests in the idea that the enigmatic protagonist of the journal is real. When Rukia comes across an unusual journal in the Kuchiki manor, she finds herself falling for its owner. Only problem is, she has no idea who wrote it.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, I haven't wrote a story in a while, this is mostly due to uni and stuff, but also because I always get half way through one and then think it is utter shit!

So in a bid to try and finish one I'm just going to post it as I write it. Hopefully this way I will keep interest and if people want me to keep going I will if people lose interest well its no big lose that I don't finish it. And at lest I will have published something instead of just binning it!

So here it is the first chapter I hope u like it let me know what u think, u know if u want.

Its rated T for now but that could be subject to change.

And as always I own nothing!

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It was a sepia toned world in the dusty archives of the Kuchiki manor. Pale yellow light leaked in through the high windows of the annexed room and filled everything with a sense of nostalgia, and an over whelming feeling of melancholic. Then again it was a rare day that this room was filled with anyone at all. All it held was the chronicles, journals and financial records of a family almost as dusty as the room.

However today Rukia was frequenting this place, on a tedious search to find some miscellaneous piece of scroll. Probably concerning some information that to anyone but Byakuya Kuchiki, would be completely useless.

Rukia was now painfully aware of what a stuffy old man her adoptive older brother was. Perhaps not in years, but in his attitude to life. She had been in this annex all morning, and was no closer to finding the item that she had been sent to look for. All she had come across where some dusty financial records, a couple of morbid death records and a rather curious receipt for the removal of a swimming pool. She had started with the scrolls on the west side of the room and was working her way down the shelves of that wall. By mid-day she had almost at the bottom of that wall's book case. It was hear she found it, on the west wall of the dusty room second self from the bottom, behind a pile of scrolls concerning the payment of servants, the diary of No One.

It was a small but thick dusty journal, bound in elegant purple leather, held shut by a large tarnished golden clasp. She pulled it out from the back of the shelf, and with it cam a plume of dust. It had caught her attention as it was far removed from the other journals on the east side of the room. She undid the clasp with some difficulty, due to the age of the book, and slackened it open. The pages where that of thick, rich, cream paper and she fluttered them open to the fist page to find out what the book was. On the first page was written in beautiful handwriting;

_ Here follows the memories of No One._

'No One? What kind of name is that for being in here? Must be miss-categorised, perhaps it's a fiction book.'

she flicked the pages to the start of the book and began to read at it. Two pages in and she had moved from her slouched position, to a more comfortable position cross legged on the floor. She was entitled to a break after working this long, and the book had captivated her interest. Was it fiction, or was it not? Who had wrote it, and how had it found its way into the Kuchiki family archive? She went on, and with each passing page she found out more and more about the enigmatic protagonist, No One.

The book told the story of a young boy with a fantastical imagination, it was written in the style of a journal, but the truth of the entries was questionable. Although they where numerous, the entries where inconsistent, with days, weeks even whole months missed out. However, there was more than enough in the way of imagination to tell you all about the main character. A young soul reaper in training who spends his days fighting the evil super villain "the werecat". A hideous female villain, part woman, part beast. She had infiltrated No One's family, and terrorised him day and night with her antics, such as stealing hair ties, belts and even sandals off of his very person while training.

The book told of his struggle to become faster and stronger than her in order that he might defeat her once and for all. However, the book also told of the struggle of lessons, and his daily life fought with peril. As she sat there the yellow light that leaked through the window slowly turned to a deep golden colour, as the sun settled on the day, and as the air cooled Rukia looked up and noticed that she had been lost in the journal for quite some time. She had wasted the day, and was still no closer to finding the parchment her brother had asked for. So in her haste she shut the clasp on the purple leather bound journal, and hid it inside the folds of her kimono.

She left the annex and walked along the courtyard's bastion, and through the large manor gardens. Her brother would be home now and would expect her to bring the parchment he requested. She stopped before the sliding doors of her brothers study. She let out a long sigh, the sky was now throwing fantastic shades or pink, red and gold on the courtyard. She lifted her hand and slowly knocked on the door.

After a few moments of silence, the dark satin tones of her Byakuya's voice made their way through the sliding doors, beckoning her to come in. she reluctantly slid apart the doors and bowed deeply upon her entry to the room. Her adoptive brother was seated behind a large mahogany desk at the other side of the room. His head was still tilted down towards the papers on his desk, but his eyes where looking up through his eyelashes towards Rukia's direction. She took a step into the study and stopped, hands clasped in front of her, head bowed and eyes on the floor. Everything always felt double weighted and so very heavy under Byakuya's stare. But she had to tell him so she swallowed hard on her nerves and spoke up;

"nii-sama, I'm terribly sorry, I spent all day in the archives however, I couldn't find the item you requested."

she couldn't resist her eyes looked up to gage his reaction, but his face remained the same, cool, composed, as it always was. His eyes still looking up at her.

"that is OK"

His eyes went back to whatever was on his desk.

"I apologise, I had meant to send someone to tell you that it was all right and that I had come across the item in my office."

After this the only thing that broke the silence was the shuffling of papers. Rukia stood still in shock, not really knowing what to do. That whole day searching had been a waste, although she hadn't really spent the whole day searching, she had spent most of the day reading, but still.

She still hadn't moved processing the situation in her head, however, Byakuya's head lifted up from his desk and looked straight up at her blank face.

"I am sorry it passed my mind. I have been quite busy today, so I shall tell Ukitake-taicho to give you the day off tomorrow to make up for it. Now I'm sorry, but I still really do have a lot of paperwork to get through."

His words where tired and his eyes sunk back down to rest of his desk again. She masked her surprise well as she bowed again, and left the room, quietly shutting the sliding doors behind her.

'it must be that time of year again.' she thought as she strode quietly along the pavilion of the courtyard. The sun had gone down now and left the courtyard in dusk. At this time of year squads 6, 7 and 8 where to recruit new members. It was a stressful and exasperating time of year when both her brother and Renji where tired, and highly strung. However, the though occurred to her that he must be more exhausted than anything else to buy her off so quickly. It was something he almost never did. Lost in her thoughts on the matter, she had already reached her room door on the other side of the manor.

She stopped at the door, sighing and shaking her head and shoulders, in a bid to get all thoughts on the matter out of her head. After all he apologised, and she had got the day that she had "lost" back and on top of all that she still had the book snuggled up in her kimono. As she thought of that a wide grin split her face, and pulling it out she held it in front of herself. The book had held her interest all day, and she was still only half way through it. She opened the door to her room and made her way unceremoniously through it, closing it behind her.


	2. betwixt these ink bound pages

_**Chapter Two:**_

Hey guys, so thanks so much for reviewing! Means a lot to me and it seems to be working because look I'm updating already!

So just going to say I like that you guys are reviewing, please do continue to do so, and if you think you know where this is going, well lets just wait! =D hope you like this chapter just as much.

Enjoy see you guys later! x

and as ever I own nothing.

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It had been early evening when Rukia had made her way into her room, and followed on where she had left of with the book. It was now deep into the night, and Rukia sat just as she had hours before when she had started. She sat on the wooden chair by her oak writing desk. A small lamp was hunched over her and the book, bar this and the light from the moon, no thing or one was witness to the scene. She had been reading for hours, still dressed in her kimono from during the day. However, by now she was only a handful of pages from the end, and throughout the book had come to the conclusion, No One was real.

It may not have been his real name, and not all the stories may have been true, but the boy was real, or at the very least the person who had written it. As no one had grown so had the stories, the stories became more credible, lifelike, as the boy grew older. However, so did his reluctance to let anyone know about him. The author had created a aloft, yet still tangibly inviting character.

By the point Rukia had reached now No One was reaching the age of adolescence. He was hot tempered, moody and rebellious. He had stopped battling to defeat the where cat although she still made regular occurrences to mock him. Rukia had smiled many times while reading, and frowned at some of the spoiled tantrums No One had taken, whoever he was, he was certainly rich enough to be a Kutchiki. She had been so engrossed in the book that she hadn't taken any notice of the time, she was to invested in the story to be tired. As she flicked to the page to the next entry, she was surprised to find it was only a paragraph long, undated and followed by nothing else. The page simply read;

_Dear Reader,_

_ who felt inclined to follow my life, I am afraid this is where our journey ends. You will not know, as I have not told you, but my mother died bringing me into this world. She gave her life for mine, and today my father has gone to join her. I have been left truly alone._

_I no longer feel inclined to share myself with you, or indeed any other, so I will hide this journal, as I intend to hide my sorrow. Maybe one day I will write again, and you and I shall meet betwixt these ink bound pages, but for now this is goodbye._

She had read the page again and again, but this was definitely the end of the book. There was nothing to follow and Rukia was left with and aching hunger to read on, a hunger that, from the look of it, would never be satisfied.

All she could do was sit there and look at the blank pages. Her mind was working slower trying to think what this all meant. However, her eyes had become heavy when she had taken them off of the book, and she was starting to come to terms with just how late it was. She put the journal, sealed, in the little lock drawer on her desk, under a pile of old photos and some other nick-nacks. No one was going to find it in there. She shut the drawer over and got ready for bed, changing onto a lose night kimono, and getting into the futon bed at the other side of the room. She fell asleep quickly, her mind exhausted from her day of reading.

She woke early the next day. Although she had been given the day off, she still found it had to break the years of training that called for her to rise early. However, although she was awake she could not will her body to get out of bed. She found herself to be completely lacking in motivation. Yesterday had been a total waste of her day off. But no matter how annoyed she was, she could not stay mad at her brother. She guessed that he just made mistakes like every one else, although she would admit it was not often.

She had had enough of lying around and moping, she was just kidding herself, all this came down to was her disappointment over the ending of No One's journal. She still had so many questions that she wanted answered.

"Hmmmmmmmm"

The annoyance was getting to her, and the pale yellow of dawn was blushing through the sliding door of her room. It was becoming evident that she was not going to get back to sleep, so in a bid to rid herself of her annoyance, she threw her quilts of herself and made to get dressed. No one batted an eyelid at her coming into the barracks on her day off, nobody paid any heed to the way she immersed herself fully in the days works and training. Nor did anyone question it the next day, or the one after that, until eventually she had completely forgotten about the journal.

In fact it was several months before she thought about the journal again. It had taken some convincing to get here but, in a time of relative peace, it had been less difficult for herself and Ukitake-taichoto to convince Byakuya to let her accept the position of lieutenant. And here she was.

Her very own office, well sort of. No one had been in here, or used this room, since the tragic death of lieutenant Sheba. The room was still filled with all of his things, and Rukia was slowly working her way through them, in a bid to make the space her own. She had been at it for a few days now, and all that really remained where the large book cases that lined the walls. She had spent most of her day sorting through the books that she would keep, and those that would have to find a new home. When Rukia had first joined squad 13, lieutenant Sheba was one of the people she admired the most in the whole of soul society. He had been a continuing inspiration to her, even in death. She would never be able to fully rid herself of the guilt that she felt over his death. Although she had never breathed a word of it to anyone, many had already assumed she held a romantic infatuation with the seated officer, when he was alive, and although she would never so much as acknowledge any attempt to ascertain the truth of the matter, she silently submitted to herself that it was in some respects true.

However, having been haunted by these thoughts many time throughout cleaning her new office, she had to admit that although she admired, and respected Kaien, it literary taste left much to be desired. It was while sorting through these books, something on the far end of the shelf she had been working on caught her attention. She sat down the heavy pile of books that where in her hand, and moved slowly towards the end of the row. It was on the far end of one of the lower shelves, sandwiched between two other larger books. It was a smaller book bound in a familiar purple leather, and a large gold clasp holding it shut. It was familiar indeed, in fact it was identical to the one she had found months before in the Kuchiki family library. She hurriedly snatched the book from where it sat between the two other books, and held it in her hand. She had an ache in her chest, and a fluttering in her stomach at the thought that this book might contain the ending that she had so longed for, the ending of No Ones child hood. She undid the stiff clasp as she sat down on the hard wooden floor, and opened it to the first page.

_Time has been kind to these wounds of mine, and you and I are ready to speak once more._

She didn't know how to feel. She wanted to lock the door and immerse herself totally in the delights of the book's many musty ink bound tails, but she was still on duty today. So reluctantly she placed the book with the greatest of care in the top drawer of her new lieutenants desk and lethargically went back to work.


	3. Romantic Sentiment

Hey guys, really sorry about the late update, but this I think is the 4th time I have wrote this chapter. I know where I want it to go but I'm having trouble putting it a way that I like. So I'm sorry that its late and I'm sorry that it's not exactly quality writing. I hope that with it out the way as a transition chapter the rest will come a little easier.  
Anyway let me know what you think and I shall endeavour to continue!

* * *

The day could not have passed any slower for Rukia. The book hidden in her drawer seemed to burn the wood that hosed it under the intensity of her anticipation. The day was filled with paperwork, and deployment administration for the division. Squad 13 was linked with 8 and 10, so there was administrative correlation to be done. As well as a report to the deputy captain of squad one on the transition of the deployment. And yes this was all exactly as boarding as it sounded!  
The sun had begun to sink low in the sky by the time she had finished all the day's duty, and she sat on the chair of her new office and thought about what she was going to do next. Desperately she wanted to stay here in her office and read the journal, she had had a full day of waiting! However, working in partnership with division ten, meant being bombarded by deputy captain Matsumoto, and as big of a place Rukia held in her heart for the woman, right now she had no desire to have her bound into her office and demand her attendance at some party, or liquor establishment. So before she could be spirited away by the busty maiden, she packed up her items carefully put the journal in her gi and stole herself away, making in the direction of the Kuchiki manor. Only stopping momentarily or her way to inform Kiyone that if anyone should come looking for her she was engaged in Kuchiki business at the manor, and could not afford to be disturbed. The great thing about being a noble, she thought as she walked towards the manor, was that if you said you had business few where brave enough to interfere. Such a tale would put off all but Renji and Ichigo she thought.

She made it home in what seemed to be record time, and quickly greeting the manor staff, made straight for her bedroom and locked herself away for the night. She sighed contented in the peace and quiet of her chamber, and having dressed for bed, dared to again be taken in by the journal. The journal was of the same colour and size as the last, although it may have been a bit ticker. The pages where just as rich, and the writing although recognisably by the same hand, had matured into beautiful calligraphy. Rukia turned to the first page eager to pick up where she had left off. However, aside from the original message there was no explanation offered. Not even the slightest of hints as to how long had passed since the last book. All but that one small message was devoid of relation to the other journal. And Rukia dreaded to think what kind of man No One had grown to become, if indeed he was yet a man.

Hesitantly she began at the first entry, and soon all fears had been removed. The character of no one had changed little. Although clearly matured by age, he had the same sense of adventure, chivalry and nobility. Rukia could only assume him to be in his late adolescence, from the pages that she had so far read. He was now in the position of deputy captain, and wrote frequently about his aspiration to complete and maser his bankai. The Wearcat made no appearance in the new journal however, he seemed to have a new partner in crime. The new partner remained nameless referred to only as Him, He or His, but featured heavily in the journal, and Rukia had to believe that although it was never stated, they were best friends. The seemed to spend all of their free time together, training and although His wit matched No Ones, he would never be allowed the last laugh. He was a deputy captain rank also, and from the way they interacted with each other they had to have known each other for a long time, longer than just entering in Gotei 13. Rukia assumed him to be of noble rank, or one of the lesser noble families. However, the tales of no one and Him gave Rukia an awkward sense of deja vu that she could not place. No One's reactions to things, the way he spoke, the bravado and hot temper he showed in his everyday life, was something so familiar, but yet so unknown. It left Rukia with an uncomfortable longing of the sort that she was not sure she had felt before.

The new journal was a bigger insight into No One, his character spilled from the pages like water from a jug. He was hot tempered, quick witted and sharp tongued, But he was chivalrous and dutiful. However, what strike her the most about him was that he was funny. He had a sense of humour that Rukia had forgotten could exist outside the Rukongai. Since she had come to live in the Kuchiki manor her life had been devoid of the sort of humour that no one displayed. She had become high strung, quiet and altogether less flamboyant in her actions with others since she was adopted by the house. She could count on one hand the people in Seireitei that knew what a fun loving, hot headed, self richeous person she could be.  
_Renji, Ichigo, Kaien.  
_She saw something of all three in the character of No One. And again she felt that uncomfortable nostalgic pull at her heart.

By the time Rukia looked up from the book she was little over a third through it, and the night was so late she could see dawn on the horizon through her windows. So she put the book in the top drawer of her bedside cabinet, and resigned her self to sleep what little of the night was left.

What sleep she had had was uncomfortable, and haunted by her nostalgic longing. Dreams of No One and his adventures danced behind her sleeping eyelids as if she where there. Yet she could never fully see him. He still remained a mystery to her.  
She woke early, tired and weary from what little troubled sleep she had had. She squirrelled the journal into her gi once she had been washed and dressed, and took it with her back to the barracks. When she got to her office, she hid it safely in the drawer it had occupied the day prior, and hoped that it would be out of sight out of mind. For for the first time since she had found the first journal, months before, a heavy weight weighed on her heart, and she dreaded opening the pages and falling further into its ink bound wonder. There was a longing in her heart that the journal had triggered, and she was unsure if it was a road she would want to go down. So in a desperate bid to delay the inevitable, she through herself headlong into the days work, hoping that the repetitive job of paperwork and administrative duties would tier her mind.  
It was hopeless though, her mind kept reminding her of ways in witch no one reminded her of those closest to her. Renji, No One was dutiful and hard working, he was always training and striving for perfection in his work and mastery of his zanpakuto. And although the perfectionist part seemed a long way off of Renji, the aspiration and determination was so reminiscent of the man she considered to be as dear as family to her. It was the ways No One was like Ichigo and Kaien that troubled her more considerably.  
Rukia had always maintained that she had no time for romantic sentiment. She had a job to do, and people she cared about dearly to protect. Love was a luxury that no one in the Rukongai could afford. This was how she felt before she mover to the Seireitei, and here it was unlikely to change. Her adoptive brother was living proof of how risky love was, to see what became of those left behind hardened her reserve and steeled her heart. But Kaien had melted it, if only slightly. He had been the only person that Rukia could even slightly entertain the idea of anything more than friendship or familial love. But he, as would be her luck, was spoken for. She had never felt bitter about that fact, she had always been happy for both of them. She had loved them both and would have done anything in her power to save either one of them. But they where gone now.

Ichigo was so much like him in so many ways. But he was so different, all at the same time. However, Rukia was so much older and wiser and . . . well more dead than Ichigo. The idea of romance between the two of them was comical to her. What they had was deep, and precious but purely platonic. And although No One was so like all three, he was some one else entirely.

Of all the three, only Kaien was a possible candidate for ownership of the journal. He had been of noble blood, once. He had been a lieutenant. And the journal was found in his room. But Rukia had never known Kaien to be a perfectionist. She was reluctant to put his face to No One's body.

She told herself that this was because she felt disrespectful reading her dead superiors diary. Witch had been true to a degree, but what she begrudged to admit to herself was that she really hoped the author of the journal was still out there, alive. Perhaps for the first time Rukia was willing to admit, if only to herself, to succumbing to romantic sentiment.


End file.
